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Bears Get To See How They Stack Up After Making Big Changes
LAKE FOREST, Ill. The Chicago Bears made significant offseason acquisitions that they think would help them rise from the bottom of the NFL standings.
But it’s not just the personnel changes that coach Matt Eberflus thinks great things are on the way. He notices something else at work as well.
“I would say I feel better about the identity overall, just because we’ve been in the system one more year, the coaches are more familiar with the players, the players that we have, bringing the new guys on, we’re bringing more experienced players,” Eberflus explained. “I definitely feel more at ease with that part of it.”
When the Bears host Green Bay in their season opener on Sunday, they’ll know where they stand. With Aaron Rodgers now with the New York Jets and Jordan Love at quarterback for the Packers, the NFL’s oldest rivalry will have a different feel.
Green Bay has dominated Chicago in recent decades, winning eight straight and going 25-5 with Rodgers at the helm.
Of course, the Bears have a distinct appearance.
The Chicago Bears made significant offseason acquisitions that they think would help them rise from the bottom of the NFL standings.
When they acquired DJ Moore from Carolina with the No. 1 pick in the draught, they completed a blockbuster trade for a playmaking receiver to assist quarterback Justin Fields. They strengthened their offensive line while strengthening their defense by signing linebackers Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, and veteran edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue.
These decisions have them believing they’ll take a new path in their second season under Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles.
Given that they finished with a league-worst 3-14 record and set a team record for defeats last season, they must demonstrate that larger things are on the way.
“We have acquired a lot of players, you know, and some good ones if you look at both sides of the ball,” Eberflus remarked.
“So we’re confident in our players.” We’re excited about the matchup and that those men will be able to compete against our opponent. It will be thrilling.”
But it’s not only how the Bears compare to the Packers. While Rodgers has joined the New York Jets, the reigning division champion Minnesota Vikings have a new look.
The Chicago Bears made significant offseason acquisitions that they think would help them rise from the bottom of the NFL standings.
The Vikings released four players who had appeared in ten Pro Bowls, including running back Dalvin Cook, after his fourth 1,000-yard season. Despite going 13-4 in coach Kevin O’Connell’s debut season, the Vikings set an NFL record by winning 11 one-score games.
“I know what’s going on around the league and in our division,” said safety Jaquan Brisker. “But as long as we’re worried about what we have to do, we’ll just keep moving forward.”
Fields’ improvement as a passer will undoubtedly determine how far they progress. While he sparkled with 1,143 yards on the ground, narrowly missing Lamar Jackson’s NFL single-season rushing record for a quarterback, it was a different story when he threw the ball.
Fields threw for 2,242 yards and 17 touchdowns while sharing the league lead with 55 sacks with Russell Wilson. He only had two 200-yard throwing performances in his career, and his season high was 254 yards versus the Packers at Soldier Field in December.
The defense also had significant concerns.
The Bears finished with 20 sacks, the fewest in the NFL since the 2003 club had 18. No defensive lineman had more than three, while Brisker led the team with four. Ngakoue, a Pro Bowl selection with the Jaguars in 2017, should contribute to the pass rush. He recorded 9 1/2 sacks for Indianapolis last season and 10 for Las Vegas in 2021.
“The standard for this year is very high, whether in the back seven or the front four,” Brisker remarked. “The standard is high, so the energy is just different.” We all trust one another, and our chemistry is fantastic. And then there’s our swag; having our swag, energy, and things like that is huge.”
NOTE: Brisker stated that he “should be ready to go” for the start of the season after missing the preseason due to an unexplained injury.
SOURCE – (AP)
News
Canadian Man Arrested for TikTok Video That Threatened Trudeau
A TikTok video that went live earlier this week has led to a Toronto man facing charges of threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. Andrew Marshall, 61, is facing two counts of uttering threats.
On Friday afternoon, the Ontario Court of Justice granted him bail with a surety and restrictions after the RCMP charged him on Wednesday.
Following Monday’s upload to TikTok, CBC Toronto conducted its own independent investigation of the video. Marshall vehemently opposes what he perceives as restrictions on free expression in Canada in it.
“I get them taken down all the time— I make videos — or all my comments, that are just simple comments,” Marsh says in the TikTok. “It’s just getting ridiculous, Marshall said.”
According to the CBC more and more people are threatening politicians. The commissioner of the RCMP has hinted that further measures may be necessary to ensure their safety.
In the TikTok video, Marshall explains in great detail how he would brutally assassinate Trudeau and Freeland “if it was up to him.”
Marshall attacks multiple groups throughout the roughly 11-minute TikTok video, including the media, Muslims, migrants, and the police who defend the government.
Among Marshall’s bail terms are the following: he must not communicate with Trudeau or Freeland; he must not use the internet to make social media posts or comments; he must not own any weapons; and he must not apply for a firearms permit.
During the bail hearing, the prosecution provided all of the evidence that is often not published.
Nate Jackson, Marshall’s attorney, stressed his client’s liberties and privileges as a Canadian in an email message.
“He has the right to freedom of speech, the right to reasonable bail and the right to a fair trial,” he said. “Having secured his release from custody, we will continue to defend Mr. Marshall’s Charter rights as his case proceeds.”
Neither Freeland’s nor the prime minister’s office would comment on the allegations, according to the CBC.
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Canada’s Unemployment Rate Hits its Highest Point Since 2017
As the job market remains dismal, the national unemployment rate in Canada has risen to its highest point since 2017. This has led some analysts to question whether the Bank of Canada should be reducing interest rates more quickly.
In spite of a net gain of 22,000 jobs, Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the unemployment rate increased to 6.6% from 6.4% the previous month. The rise was due to an uptick in part-time employment and a fall in full-time employment.
Outside of the pandemic years, the national unemployment rate has reached its highest position since May 2017, according to StatCan.
Rapid population expansion in Canada has increased the overall labour pool, but the country’s unemployment rate has persisted in rising.
The summer job market was especially tough for students, according to StatCan. Not including the pandemic, the unemployment rate among students going back to school in the autumn was 16.7 percent, which is the highest level since 2012.
Two days after the Bank of Canada dropped interest rates for the third time in a row, reducing borrowing costs to alleviate economic pressure, the most recent reading of the Canadian job market follows suit.
According to TD Bank economist Leslie Preston, who wrote a note on Friday, the central bank is “giving the OK” to keep dropping rates due to the bad August jobs report. Preston predicts two more quarter-point decreases at the remaining decisions this year.
According to CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham, there are indications that the labour market is quickly contracting more than initially thought, since the unemployment rate is nearly two percentage points greater than the record low of 4.9% in June 2022.
“Due to this, we believe the Bank should be contemplating a quicker rate of reductions in order to bring interest rates to less restrictive levels,” he informed clients in a letter on Friday morning.
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US Job Growth Falls Short of Expectations: Economy Struggles Under High Interest Rates
Last month, job growth in the United States was weaker than predicted, prompting concerns that the world’s largest economy is beginning to struggle under the weight of increased interest rates.
The Labour Department said that employers added 142,000 jobs in August, which was less than the nearly 160,000 economists predicted. It also stated that job gains over the preceding two months were weaker than expected.
However, the jobless rate went down to 4.2%, down from 4.3% in July.
The report is one of the most important indicators of the US economy and arrives at a vital time, as voters consider presidential candidates for the November election and the US central bank contemplates its first interest rate decrease in four years.
Analysts said the latest statistics kept the Federal Reserve on pace for a rate drop at its meeting this month, but did little to answer worries about the trajectory of the US economy or how much of a cut it should make.
“There has rarely been such a make-or-break number; unfortunately, today’s jobs report does not completely resolve the recession debate,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management.
Soaring prices in 2022 caused the Federal Reserve to hike its key lending rate to 5.3%, a nearly 20-year high.
Faced with increased borrowing costs for homes, vehicles, and other debt, the economy has slowed, helping to alleviate pressures that were boosting inflation but exacerbating market concerns.
As inflation has fallen to 2.9% in July, the Fed is under pressure to decrease interest rates to prevent additional economic deceleration.
Although job increases in August fell short of expectations, they were greater than in July, when a slowdown aroused anxieties and triggered several days of stock market volatility.
Last month, construction and health-care firms hired the most, while manufacturing and retailers laid off employees.
Ms Shah stated that the data in Friday’s report was mixed, but provided enough concerning indicators that the Fed should make a larger cut.
“On balance, with inflation pressures subdued, there is no reason for the Fed not to err on the side of caution and frontload rate cuts,” she told reporters.
Others, however, felt the advances were just steady enough to warrant a 0.25 percentage point decrease, as markets had long projected – though this could signal more cuts than expected in the coming months.
Paul Ashworth, Capital Economics’ senior North America economist, predicted that the Fed’s decision will be “close run.”
“The labour market is clearly experiencing a marked slowdown,” he said, adding that the new statistics were “overall still consistent with an economy experiencing a soft landing rather than plummeting into recession”.
Concerns about the economy are a major issue in the US election.
According to polls, a majority of Americans feel the US is in a recession, despite healthy 2.5% growth last year.
Donald Trump has declared that the economy is headed for a “crash,” and his team instantly latched on the latest data to criticise Vice President Kamala Harris, publishing a press release titled “warning lights flash as Kamala’s economy continues to weaken.”
Democrats have defended their performance, claiming that the United States survived the pandemic and inflation better than many other countries.
They believe the slowdown is a sign that the economy is returning to a more sustainable rate of growth following the post-pandemic boom.
“Although hiring has slowed, the US job market continues to generate solid job gains and wage growth that is consistently beating inflation,” the White House Council of Economic Advisors stated in a blog.
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